The Maltese national team had a great start in the FIBA Europe Division C women's championship, which is being played in Luxembourg, after beating Albania 80-55.

The starting five for Malta were Loretta Ellul, Rebecca Brincat Thoresen, Doreen Micallef, Christina Grima and Josephine Grima.

Brincat Thoresen, who plays in the German league, was the top scorer of the game with 34 points. She also had five rebounds, the best record of the match.

Malta had a good start and won the first session 24-9. Albania tried to react but more points from Thoresen and Joselle Cardona made it 45-19 at half-time.

The third quarter was the closest one, Malta securded it 22-19. With victory almost in the bag, the Maltese girls lifted their foot off the pedal in the fourth quarter which Albania won 17-13.

Malta were positive in their shooting with a percentage of 52.3 per cent.

Seven countries are competing in the tournament. These are: Albania, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Gibraltar, Malta, Scotland and Luxembourg who are celebrating their association's 75th anni-versary.

Santino Coppa's team is in Group B. Today they play Scotland before completing their group commitments tomorrow against Wales.

The top two qualify for the semi-finals, scheduled for Friday, with the winners contesting Saturday's final.

The women's team had positive results in previous FIBA Europe Division C tournaments. In 2004, they finished third and qualified for the 2006 Commonwealth Games which were held in Melbourne.

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